Look: In the grand scheme of things, Caleb Williams throwing back-to-back interceptions in training camp probably means absolutely nothing.
Back-to-back interceptions for Caleb Williams at Bears practice
— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) July 25, 2025
pic.twitter.com/C9iWTk1PON
Bad plays happen, and while they look magnified when they happen in concert with another bad play, they don't have to mean anything.
Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, had a shaky rookie campaign, and working with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron didn't help. If your team fires its OC after nine games, it's fair to give the young quarterback who is thrown into that quagmire a pass.
Still, Williams has to do a lot still to prove he was worthy of the No. 1 overall pick, and this start to training camp sure isn't a great way to prove he's fixed his issues.
Caleb Williams is coming off a rocky season, but there's room to grow
How much blame does Caleb Williams deserve for last year's 5-12 season? The Bears put a lot of work into giving him a strong supporting cast, but that supporting cast didn't hold up quite as much as expected. Rookie Rome Odunze didn't translate as smoothly to the league as you'd like. Keenan Allen wasn't all the way washed, but he was washed-adjacent.
Chicago finished last year 31st in the league in passing yards despite being 13th in pass attempts. Williams completed 62.5 percent of his pass attempts for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. There's a lot to grow on based on those numbers!
But Williams didn't really have any standout moments, aside from a Week 6 destruction of the Jaguars where he threw four touchdowns. That was a good showing, but it was also a game that saw 20 percent of his overall touchdown passes happen, underscoring his inconsistency over the rest of the 2024 season.
Williams also has to work on cleaning up some late-season turnover concerns. He fumbled six times over the final five games of the year.
Ben Johnson has proven he can turn a quarterback around
Let's circle back to the back-to-back interceptions. Obviously, that's not something you want to see out of your quarterback, but the Bears might have brought in the perfect coach to turn things around.
Ben Johnson comes over after working as the OC in Detroit, where he helped the team finish in the top 10 in passing yards and passing touchdowns in three consecutive seasons.
Jared Goff arrived in Detroit as a cast-off from the Rams. It was starting to seem like the team couldn't get over the hump with him, something proven true when the Rams immediately won a Super Bowl in their first season with his replacement, Matthew Stafford.
But Johnson helped reinvigorate Goff's career. He's thrown for over 4,400 yards in three consecutive seasons and three of his four best touchdown campaigns have come in Detroit.
And Goff isn't the first quarterback Johnson has helped. From 2013-2015, he was the assistant quarterbacks coach in Miami, and that 2014 season was the only time between 2010 and 2019 that Miami was top 15 in points scored and total yards. Ryan Tannehill took a clear step forward in his second NFL campaign once Johnson was elevated to that role.
Will Williams be the next quarterback to make a leap because of Johnson? Only time will tell, but let's not write Williams off after a so-so rookie year and a couple of bad training camp plays.